Götterdämmerung.... Weird Nazis.... & Purplebellies

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What is all this "Weird Sci Fi Nazi Domina" stuff anyway?

Answer: Fun way of reusing a lot of tired WW2 kit and creating an additional Low-tech Sci Fi army.

Plus, Sci fi Germans are very useful as Purplebellies! The clearest view of an Alliance Purplebelly in Firefly is in a flashback to the Unification War in The Message. Definitely Weird Reich territory.

Went back to work on Friday and was promptly sent home again. I worked from home today and as a consequence do finally feel better and will go back in tomorrow over "Donkey Cough!" at last.

A very real benefit of working from home in cash terms is saving myself twenty 'squid' on train fares and something for lunch, so I've reinvested £3.18 ($4.99) on the GEAR KRIEG German Walker Compendium 1 (Loki).

I'm not into Gear Krieg per se, simply bought this book for the eye candy if I'm honest with you and will probably never read the text. Was it worth that instant gratification that only a pdf can bring? Oh yes! Worth it for the photos of superbly painted 15mm WW2, Weird Reich and Gear Krieg kit by the talented Agis Neugebauer. And I've picked up some nice little touches of inspiration for my own Götterdämmerung collection.

What you get for your money is a 26 page book that's very professionally produced. When you purchase from Wargames Vault you will get a full colour download, a B/W copy to download, and a set of Unit Stats also. The latter has even more colour photos of individual German walker variants.

The very last photo in the Compendium made me want to go back into Wargames Vault and download the Rapid Fire! Battle of the Bulge scenario & mini campaign book ($17.50). Save that for another day perhaps.

Cheers
Mark
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WWW2 Germans

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Just a quick post to say that I've fired off a small order to Peter Pig before their prices go up on the 15th. I've asked for a couple of packs of WW2 Germans with Assault Rifles to use as WWW2 Nazis.

Peter Pig 15mm: PBI range pack 550

Peter Pig 15mm: PBI range pack 66

I've also included some Panzerfausts - not for tank hunting, they will be armed with proximity fused shrapnel warheads to counter the Zombie threat. Of course, a few months earlier the Panzerfaust warheads were filled with the 'Z' Virus and fired at groups of advancing Soviets to turn them into a mindless rabble. Nazi science could not predict the terrible wrath of Hell they would be sowing....turning friend and foe alike into ravenous, brain eating monsters.

A new battle is being fought on the plains of Poland and at the gates of Berlin. Not for victory or defeat but simply survival!

PopQuiz: If you could get a sprue of WWW2 german heads to convert these miniatures - what heads would you want? German helmets with gasmasks? Field caps with gasmasks? Field caps with goggles? Leave your own ideas below.

Issue Wehrmacht WW2
M35 helmet and gasmask

Cheers
Mark
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Ambush Alley: "The Wastelands" Scenario Pack

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At the beginning of last week, Shaun at Ambush Alley Games was kind enough to send me a gratis copy of "The Wasteland" Scenario Pack which comes with this year's annual S.O.G. membership.

I was both impressed and inspired enough to subscribe the very next day to this year's S.O.G. (Special Operators Group) membership. So what are the benefits of joining S.O.G.?

• One free campaign pack per year – "The Wasteland" for 2010 - $15 in itself! (These special packs are only available to subscribers).
  
• A 15% discount on all Ambush Alley Games products!
• The opportunity to receive new releases two weeks before they are publicly released!
• Discounts or other special offers from miniatures manufacturers who support Ambush Alley, including Rebel Minis, QRF, and Liberation Minis!
• This year also includes “Under the Black Flag”, a three scenario campaign focused on a covert and highly critical action against Somalian pirates. It also contains alternative rules for clearing buildings as well as rules for close assault weapons (SMGs, shotguns, etc.) and handguns.

"The Wasteland" contains three linked post-apocalyptic scenarios, one each for Ambush Alley, Force on Force, and Ambush Z.

• In the Rat's Alley
  
• Agony in Stony Places
• Fear in a Handful of Dust

Each scenario follows the tried and tested Ambush Alley formula. Scenario background, table setup, forces, mission, victory conditions and special rules. Short, sharp, effective!

There are also several pages of sample 'organisations' for various post apocalyptic warrior types.

If you don't own any of the Ambush Alley rules, don't worry! The scenarios are easily convertible but best of all in this instance, a lot of thought has been put into building a post apocalyptic world. I really enjoyed just reading "The Wasteland", let alone envisioning the games that will be inspired by it.

So if the Apocalypse seems a bit more in your face in 2010, blame Shaun and the gang at Ambush Alley!

Cheers
Mark
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Weekend Project - AI 'Drone Army'

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I'm starting another mini-project today. Building and painting the first elements of an AI Drone force of mixed GZG Gun Drones, mini UAVs and Wheeled MAWPS.


I really like the way Jon has mounted them in the picture above, but I have to be more practical and will mount the bulk in two's to maximise their versatility in a spectrum of game systems whilst also attempting to meet my vision for them on the tabletop. My intention is to use them both as near future force multipliers and 'early' Sci Fi 'soldiers' rather than individual mini tanks. I'll discuss more about this in a later post.

As things stand I can lay my hands on 3 packs of Gun Drones, 2 packs of mini UAVs and 3 assorted Wheeled MAWPs. My plan is to supplement them using my Xmas discount voucher from GZG as I always like using these discounts to pick up more of the less 'glamorous' bits of kit or accessories.

I want to build this force up so that it can be an independant AI battle force in it's own right whilst also being suitable as an 'early' Mechanoid Army with Alien Squad Leader.

You may have noticed that I haven't mentioned GZG's Gun Bots? Well, I don't want to have all my eggs in one basket. The tracked Gun Bots are sufficiently different to be used in opposition forces.

I bought the Drones, MAWPS and UAVs originally not for any high fallutin' ideas about military AI, but for purely practical reasons. They are 'anonymous' in their design, so can be used to quickly and cheaply provide support weapons from squad to company level or even become additional 'soldier' units to augment any existing force on the tabletop. But again, more about this later this week.

Cheers
Mark
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AaahWoo, Werewolves in Warsaw!

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Piotr of Pole Bitwy has sent me the following photos of greens from his forthcoming 15mm Sci Fi ranges.

Pole Bitwy 15mm Sci Fi
Werewolf Alpha Male, Simian Trooper, Aquaman

Pole Bitwy 15mm Sci Fi Werewolf Separate Heads
(Battlefront WW2 Soviets for comparison)

The Werewolf Alpha Male is about 26mm to the top of his head, 24mm to the eyes. The Aquaman is 22mm to the top of the crest on the head and 18mm to the eyes. These minis will be sold in packets of eight minis [two copies each of four different variants]. The werewolf heads sprue should fit most modern sized 15mm minis.

Piotr is also releasing a line of '6mm' Simians. Now these 6mm are in fact 12mm tall, which makes them suitable as an alternative race of Simian troopers or allows you to create a Simian Alliance army!

Pole Bitwy 15mm Sci Fi
12mm Simian on left

If you haven't seen Piotr's '15mm' Simian Heavy Weapon Troopers yet, you can catch them on TMP (click here).

Cheers
Mark
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These Nazi Zombies Can Go To HELL!

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....If they didn't already come from Hölle!

Todays post is a work in progress. I'll be updating throughout the day in between painting these %$$###k'ing Nazi Zombies.

I honestly thought this was going to be a fun aside. Tip for Mike or anyone producing Nazi Zombies - they are DEAD! They would have been stripped of kit, no webbing! Please, no webbing! Jim Bowen's superb Gotterdammerung range got it RIGHT!

OK, as these were Zombies I started with spraying them with a Humbrol enamel Field Grey from a can that was mmm##pphh years old. Worked a treat. I used this several years ago to great effect on my German 'Stalingrad' collection after noticing in photos of German troops at Stalingrad that they were covered in tons of dust - this seemed a practical instant method of highlighting & weathering the miniatures at the same time!

I thought to myself Nazi Zombies - lot's of grey masonry and earth dust on them - do the same.

This time I added an extra step - basecoated Field Grey, washed with a watered down Citadel Badaab Black. With the first batch, I slapped over the whole miniature - MISTAKE! Rather than defining the creases, seams, folds etc - it just made the entire uniform dark green - %$$###! Had to go back and drybrush the lot Field Grey again.

Lesson learnt, I used a smaller brush to add the Baadab Black where necessary on the remaining 30 odd figures, then drybrushed the lot with Citadel Fortress Grey.

Where I am now doing my head in, is having to paint all their boots and webbing black. But I've come up with a quick and easy technique......thin the black so that it's semi opaque and brush it liberally over the boots and webbing straps/ammo pouches - what you'll find is that the Field Grey comes through on the highlights making the black leather look worn.

The straps of the webbing have three surfaces - top and two sides, with a small brush you would probably have to paint these with separate strokes, but with a semi-opaque 'wash' - thicker than a Citadel wash, and a size '6' brush, the black runs into the sides and colours but the top and edges but again, gives it an instant highlight/worn look - which will be further enhanced by the final drybrushing.

Whilst at it, I thinned the black paint a little more and then ran it into the deepest creases, over the facial features to create depth and along seams, before drybrushing the figures with Fortress Grey, including hands, faces and hair. If you think you've overdone it on the webbing a quick Badaab Black or Gryphone Sepia will rectify.

UPDATE:

Features. I now used Vallejo Camouflage Green to drybrush with a 'o' size brush over the hands and faces, then added Vallejo Elf Flesh to the green and lightly this time drybrushed again.

At this point - the figures look pants! I am completely and utterly disheartened! Time for a Vodka!

UPDATE:

Refreshed, I dappled Elf Flesh on the ends of the severed limbs followed by GW Scab Red, then slightly thinned the Scab Red to stain the mouths/faces, fingers and some areas of the uniforms and boots.

All is forgiven. The 'blood' effects have brought the minis to life (so to speak!). They look GREAT (for Zombies) and I'm bloody, ;-) delighted.

THOUGHTS:

I could have made this easier on myself and had fewer steps - I know for the next batch. In fact I'm tempted to go full 'Hollywood Field Grey' - use GW Adeptus Battlegrey as base and use GW Gryphone Sepia, Graveyard Earth to shade/highlight.

The bareheaded minis are great, can't fault them at all. The heads with German helmets are I'm sorry to say, sad representations of the Wehrmacht M35 and looks far closer to the Spanish M26. Some better than others. Luckily I have several old Battlefront Germans whose heads will be given up in a greater cause for the next batch. The peak caps of the officers - mmmmmm - I left these minis out of this round of painting and again, will use spare German heads with helmets and field caps instead.

I'm encouraged enough to convert a sample of a Modern Zombie young lady running with telephone handset and severed cable that Mike sent me. I'm going to give her a sidecap and change the outfit with Green Stuff to turn her into arespectable imitation of a 'Luftwaffenhelferin', and go through my Peter Pig and Battlefront minis to see who else can be converted in a Zombie Nazi!

Cheers
Mark
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